Algeria, on Sunday, joined Nigeria and Egypt as the three countries to have confirmed their places in the knockout phase of the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, as 13 others have to wait till the final round of the group stage.

Following an emphatic 3-0 win over Sudan in their opening match of the tournament, Algeria made it two wins in two matches on Sunday evening after a hard-fought 1-0 win over an unrelenting Burkina Faso side.

Riyad Mahrez scored the only goal of the game from the penalty spot in the first half to seal the victory for the Desert Warriors. It was the former Manchester City star’s third goal of the tournament.

Algeria will now take on already-eliminated Equatorial Guinea in their final group match, while Burkina Faso will battle Sudan in a high-stakes clash that will determine who gets the second automatic ticket to the knockout phase.

“Today was because of the team. I think everyone did well, and the most important thing was to win the game. The goal was for us to qualify and not really individual awards. We are now officially qualified and happy with the work we put in,” Algeria’s Ibrahim Maza, who was awarded the man of the match, said. “We knew it would be tough because they are tough in the duels, but we also needed to be strong in duels, and I think we did quite well in matching them.”

Algeria head coach, Vladimir Petkovic, said, “As a first, it has been a really hard match with two strong teams who fought for 90 minutes for everything on the pitch. We were slightly better at taking advantage of the opportunities we got.

“I think Burkina Faso will be successful if they continue playing the way they did tonight. Congratulations to my team. Despite having lacked a bit in the closing matches, we continued working hard and secured the victory and qualification.”

Meanwhile, Cameroon and Ivory Coast settled for a 1-1 draw in the final group stage match of the second round.

The Group F encounter was one of the biggest matches of the group stage and saw the likes of Real Madrid duo of Kylian Mbappe and Aurélien Tchouaméni, alongside Jules Kounde, present inside the Marrakech Stadium to witness the clash.

After a goalless first half, Amad Diallo broke the deadlock for Ivory Coast six minutes into the second half, curling home just from outside the box to put the defending champions ahead.

Unfortunately, the lead lasted only five minutes when Ghislain Konan redirected an attempt by Junior Tchamadeu to equalise for Cameroon, as the two sides sit first and second in Group F with four points each.